Solana Beach resident to help lead charity yoga event

Hundreds of yogis will gather at Waterfront Park on Sept. 23 to raise money and awareness for various causes.

The seventh annual One Love Movement event will feature yoga, live music, vendors, food and libations to raise money to support a local anti-bullying program, as well as a shelter for abandoned babies in Seoul, Korea and a shelter home for 17 kids in India.

The beginner-friendly event features five instructors, including Andrew Schultz of Solana Beach.

Schultz recently spoke on the event and his background as an instructor.

Why are you excited for the One Love event?

I'm looking forward to supporting a good cause. What [One Love founder] Kim [Bauman] is doing with her charity and all the people that she's impacting with the ripple effects of all her work, it's very inspiring to be a part of it. I'm just really grateful to be asked to be a small part of what she's putting together.

What will the day entail?

It starts at 9 a.m. and goes until 1 p.m. It will start off with a yoga practice and meditation, and that will be followed by live music, a wine and beer garden and local food vendors. It should be a great day.

Who's invited to attend and participate in the event?

People of all yoga levels can participate. It's going to be a practice set that everyone can follow along with and have fun with. That's the best part.

What made you want to get involved with the event?

It's something I believe in, and it's a chance for me to be of service and help give back. Kim's a dear friend of mine. I think it's awesome for our community to come together to support a positive, good cause that helps a lot of local people. These are the things I want to be a part of in a bigger way. It's a connection piece and it [represents] the things that matter in life.

What is your history with yoga?

I wasn't in the yoga world until about three years ago. I used to be in the corporate world. I was going down the wrong track and I actually got pretty involved with alcohol and drugs. My family did an intervention, took me to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and I literally rebuilt my life from my yoga mat up. It changed everything for me. I became a certified yoga teacher, got out of the corporate world and here I am, three years later, with a purpose and an ability to help others because of what yoga and meditation has done for my life. Now I have a responsibility and an opportunity to share what yoga has done for me. It's pretty awesome that I get to do this more and more on a larger scale.

Where else do you teach?

I've been teaching for about three years. I work for Lululemon as well and I also teach at Yoga Six in Solana Beach and Carmel Valley. ... I also have a very soft place in my heart for kids. Last summer, I actually started a yoga program for boys, tweens and teens at La Jolla Shores because when I was 9 and into my teenage years, I didn't have an outlet like yoga and meditation. If there's no outlet, you can go down a pretty dark road, which I did go down. Now I have an opportunity to reach kids at a younger age and provide them with a tool that they can apply in their life to help them through their struggles and challenges. I've seen that manifest through that program that I've started. To start them at a young age is really rewarding to see.

For tickets and more information about the One Love Movement event, visit https://onelovemovement.org.